Recreational vehicles, such as Off-Road vehicles, All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), and Utility Task Vehicles (UTVs), are primarily used in outdoor settings with sun exposure. These settings commonly include trails, tracks, parks, or wilderness settings, among others. While the vehicles are often equipped with a roof which provides some shade from the sun, the roof is primarily designed for protecting the driver and passenger of the vehicle from rain and other precipitation, and thus, is usually only large enough to shade the users when the sun is directly overhead. When the sun is not positioned directly overhead but is angular to the vehicle, the roof of the vehicle does little to provide shade to the users.
While users of these vehicles have learned to tolerate sun exposure while operating the vehicles, they are often left no choice but to sit in the direct sunlight during breaks and downtime, since these breaks and periods of downtime often take place along the trail where no other shelter is available. This situation leads to users being susceptible to the medical hazards of sitting in direct sunlight, including sunburns, dehydration, and heatstroke. In certain environments, namely in hot, arid, desert settings, medical issues from sun exposure can occur very rapidly. For example, in the arid deserts of the American Southwest and Mexico, UTVs are often used for driving on sandy dunes and trails where it is common for temperatures to exceed 100° F. and the intense sun to reach a UV index level at or exceeding 11. In these conditions, sunburns can occur with as little as 10 minutes of exposure time. Accordingly, when users of the vehicles take even brief mid-route breaks from driving, they're left no choice but to sit in the vehicle and endure the sun exposure.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.